In the field of medical imaging, various modalities are available, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT). Fusion (i.e., combined use) of multiple imaging modalities has been employed for the past decade and is still in its infancy stage. Fusion of MR and CT was first, due in part to the digital nature of these modalities. Because conventional approaches toward fusion of MR and CT typically use the entire breast volume for processing, the associated combined algorithms are computationally intensive. As such, conventional fusion approaches are often not practical in image guided surgery and real-time breast imaging applications.
FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show one example of a conventional approach of combined medical imaging modalities as disclosed by General Electric Company. The system generates 3-D X-ray volumetric slices using the 3-D tomosynthesis principle (Wu et al.). A second stage involves 3-D ultrasound (US) scanning using a US transducer, which is used to scan on the top of a plastic sheet. The output includes multiple 3-D ultrasound slices.